Asus officially unveils its Padfone 2

The official Padfone 2 European launch event is already underway in Milan but Asus also decided to hold one in Taiwan as well, just a tad bit earlier, and officially launch its new smartphone with tablet-dock.

Although it was already revealed yesterday, we now have full info regarding the specifications of the new Padfone 2. The new Padfone 2 is built around a 4.7-inch 720p Super IPS+ screen with Sharp's IGZO technology. It uses Qualcomm's APQ8064 quad-core CPU, has 2GB of RAM memory and a 13-megapixel rear main camera with f/2.4 BSI sensor and ability to record 1080p@30 or720p@60 video. Asus also threw in a front 1.2-megapixel camera, LTE NFC, 50GB of free Asus web storage to compensate for the lack of microSD card slot, micro-SIM and a fixed 2,140mAh battery. The Padfone 2 will ship with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich OS but Asus already promised the Jelly Bean update in the near future.

The tablet part of the Padfone 2 is built around a 10.1-inch 1280x800 IPS screen. When compared to the previous Padfone, the battery was cut down from 6,600mAh to 5,000mAh, which made the entire device significantly lighter at 514 grams. When combined with the phone and its 135g weight, the device weighs in at 649 grams, which makes it lighter than most tablets on the market. Due to the new slide in design, as opposed to the old hatch one, the tablet-dock is much slimmer, and also looks much better.

Both the tablet and the smartphone come with proprietary 13-pin connector that is compatible with micro-USB and handles data, video, power and radio signals between the PadFone 2 and its tablet-dock. Unfortunately, Asus decided not to pair the Padfone 2 with any kind of keyboard dock, so it is either a phone or a tablet and that is all.

The new Asus Padfone 2 will be available in black and white color, but the white one will come at a later date. The Padfone 2 will be sold with our without its "Padfone station" tablet-dock and available in 16, 32, and 64GB versions.